Hallowe’en’s all well and good with its fancy dress, its ghost-shaped cupcakes and the cute kiddies trick-or-treating.

But look behind the veil (*evil cackle*) and you’ll find that Cambridge has some seriously scary sceptres that stalk its colleges, houses and roads.

Keep telling yourself THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS GHOSTS, and keep the lights ON, as we talk you through some of the spookiest, weirdest and frankly most uncanny sightings in our city.

Christ’s College

Christ's, where a ghostly male is said to stalk

A male ghost can sometimes be seen circling a tree: thought to be the ghost of Chrisopher Round, racked with guilt over the death of his lover Lady Mary Clifford and love-rival Philip Collier, who both drowning in the college pool under suspicious circumstances.

Christopher’s ghost tends to appear on midnight when there’s a fully moon, with spooky noises also emitting from the Fellows Building where he had a room.

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Corpus Christi College

Watch out, there's a cursed couple about

Dressed in white, long bedraggled hair, a ghastly gash around his neck… the figure of Doctor Butts has stalked the college since 1904.

The Doctor was found hanging in his room in 1632 and no-one knows why he chose to return in the early 20th century, but even an attempted exorcism by students has failed to rid the college of this spectre.

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Double-cursed, Corpus Christi is also haunted by James Betts, a young romantic who suffocated while hiding in a cupboard in the kitchens, and his lover Elizabeth Spencer, who threw herself off the Old Courts Roof shortly after.

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Girton College

In the late 19th century, at the college’s Taylor Knob staircase (yes, really), a ‘grey lady’ manifested.

Thought to be a young gentlewoman who died before she was able to start her studies at the college. Now THAT’S a conscientious student.

And other places to avoid on Halloween

Chesterton Road

A ghostly gas mask

One of the most disturbing hauntings, because it was so recent, is the incident on Chesterton Road one summer’s day in 2012.

A witness, walking through a car park, past an office block, looked up to see a police officer – in 1940s uniform, complete with gasmask case – FLOAT above her. Brrrr!

Newmarket Road

And here's one of the, frankly, ODDEST hauntings we’ve heard of - the Newmarket Road Penguin.

Yep, penguin *screams in mock-terror*. Apparently numerous people have reported seeing a penguin’s waddling figure along the road (and once at Merton Hall).

Paranormal experts reckon it might, in fact, be the figure of a (very short?) doctor, from plague times – the mask looking a little like a beak, and the cloak giving an, um, penguin-like appearance? We don’t know if that makes it MORE scary or LESS.

Arbury Road

Oh shucks...

A ‘shuck’ is a mysterious ghostly black dog, said to stalk the East Anglian countryside. One such terrifying creature – said to bring bad luck to anyone that sights it – is said to frequent Arbury Road. So WATCH OUT next time you’re heading for the Cambridge Northside…

Have you had any spooky sightings of your own around town? Tell us about it in the comments box, and we'll try to be brave (*wimper*).